Teddy Tetak’ s Mental Game Propels Him to Top Finish at Dustin Johnson World Junior Golf Championship
By Stacy Shanks
“ I had two private mental sessions with Ian Highfield which helped a lot,” said Tetak.“ Before the tournament I wrote down some process goals and outcome goals. The outcome goals I threw in the trash because I didn’ t want to worry about the outcomes. I just tried to follow the 13 processes I had down on paper. After every round I would tick every box if I followed the process or not. I followed all of them basically.”
This new mental mindset was the difference maker for Tetak. In the past the outcome would’ ve been much different.
Teddy Tetak, 16, recently competed in the Dustin Johnson World Junior Golf Championship in Murrells Inlet, SC and finished second. While Tetak played great golf, it was his mental mindset that stood out above the rest.
Tetak put together three great rounds for a 1-over 217 finish. He led the field with 12 birdies and two eagles over the three rounds.
“ The best part of my game was definitely second shots on par 5s,” said Tetak.“ Out of the 12 par 5s, I hit nine of them in two and most of them were within 20 feet. I was really happy with that part of my game. I also hit a lot of quality iron shots and a couple clutch putts to save par or to make birdie.”
While there were many highs, Tetak faced several challenges during the event. During the second round, he made a triple on No. 10 but bounced back with a par on No. 11 and birdie on No. 12. There was a similar situation during the final round in which Tetak made a quadruple bogey on the par-3 seventh and followed that up with a birdie on No. 8.
Tetak’ s ability to put bad holes behind him showed his resilience and the changes he’ s been working on at Bishops Gate Golf Academy with his mental game.
“ I get down on myself a lot, so at this tournament I stayed positive and focused on the next shot and not what happened,” said Tetak.“ I bound through some adversity during the tournament and I was happy.”
The changes Tetak made to his mental game started prior to the tournament at BGGA.
“ Watching Teddy evolve each day in training, as a result of his daily reflection and commitment to developing grit, resilience and the ability to play with his optimal activation level, I knew that Teddy would be prepared to handle the adversity of the Dustin Johnson event,” said BGGA Coach Zach Parker.
“ I didn’ t get mad at all,” said Tetak.“ I just took my medicine and went on to the next hole. That in my opinion shows that I didn’ t just give up and I just kept playing.”
Tetak wasn’ t the only one who saw his resilience during the event. A SEC college coach was in attendance and after seeing how Tetak recovered after a few rough holes, he offered him a scholarship for his golf program.
Tetak said,“ The coach was really impressed with how I handled myself after two rough holes, and I showed him that even if I have a bad hole I just don’ t give up.”
“ While Teddy’ s result and statistics were impressive, the proudest moment for me and all of Teddy’ s team was when he fed back the conversation he had with a college coach following the event,” said Parker.“ If that coach had watched Teddy six months ago he would’ ve seen a completely different young man.”
Tetak played well, didn’ t give up and showed great strides in his mental game that helped propel him to a top finish.
“ The event was great from top to bottom,” said Tetak.“ It was a cherry on top that Dustin Johnson could come for the practice round and the first day. The whole tournament was a fun experience.“